ISLE BELLS

Conductor

Conductor Ella Saltonstall is the founding director and one of the co-founders of Isle Bells. She also rang in the St. James bell choir in Kodiak, Alaska as a youth.

In 1999 she was a founding member of the community handbell group San Diego Harmony Ringers. Her experience in SDHR piqued her interest with what is possible in an intermediate/advanced community handbell group.

In 2008 she was co-founder of Penobscot Bay Ringers, the first community handbell choir of its kind in Maine.

Upon returning to Kodiak in 2011, she and a small group of the original St. James ringers brainstormed to establish what is now Isle Bells. She knew handbell music only from the ringing side of the table, not from the conducting side. With the support of her fellow peers and musicians, and mentors back East, she navigated learning the basics of conducting to get Isle Bells up and running.

She rang as a member of a regional Area All-Star choir in Yakima in 2014, renewing her appreciation of the action on the other side of the table.

Ella enjoys furthering her training and working with handbell clinicians to improve her skills and those of the musicians in Isle Bells.

Ella is the mother to two boys and is currently working towards completing her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology.